Spiller runs for 2 TDs in Clemson win

CLEMSON, S.C.(AP) -- C.J. Spiller ran for two touchdowns and
Clemson put aside two weeks of turmoil to get back in the ACC's
Atlantic Division race with a 38-3 victory over Wake Forest on
Saturday.

Spiller had scoring runs of 66 and 14 yards for the Tigers (3-3,
2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who seemed ready to implode
after an unexpected 24-21 loss to Maryland on Oct. 3.

The team held a players only meeting when it returned to campus
and an anonymous blog report during the bye week detailed a
shouting match at practice between coach Dabo Swinney and
offensive coordinator Billy Napier.

Against Wake Forest (4-3, 2-2), though, Clemson showed its
resiliency with its best performance of the season.

Freshman quarterback Kyle Parker threw for a score and ran for
another. Spiller finished with 106 yards for his 10th career
100-yard game and Clemson's defense sacked ACC pass-efficiency
leader Riley Skinner five times.

The Demon Deacons came in the Atlantic Division leader and
could've opened up a two-game lead on Clemson. Instead, the
six-team group took another crazy turn and kept almost everyone
in the race for the league's title game.

Swinney celebrated the year anniversary of taking over the
Tigers this week, yet sounded a lot like his old boss, Tommy
Bowden, much of the season with his belief the team was a play
or two from big success.

That didn't sit well with many Clemson fans, who criticized
Swinney and Napier on sports talk radio and Internet message
boards. The flashpoint came this week with word of Swinney and
Napier's heated exchange.

Both coaches said the incident was overblown, although Swinney
did say he intended to "get a piece" of several assistants and
players after the team's 2-3 start.

Any controversy was drowned out by Saturday's cheers at Death
Valley for Clemson's eight victory over Wake Forest in the past
11 meetings.

Things went Clemson's way from the start. Parker went 4-of-4 on
Clemson's first drive, finishing with a 1-yard touchdown pass to
tight end Michael Palmer.

DeAndre McDaniel's interception of Skinner set up a 22-yard
field goal by Richard Jackson, who twice missed tying kicks in
the fourth quarter against Maryland last time out.

Parker threw a near perfect 51-yard pass to Jacoby Ford to
Wake's 5, the Clemson speedster spliting defensive backs Kenny
Okoro and Josh Bush to make the catch. Parker ended the series
soon afwith a leaping, 3-yard TD run to make it 17-0.

Wake Forest appeared to find its legs as it drove to Clemson's
1. However, a holding penalty forced them to settle for a
28-yard field goal.

Spiller ended any Demon Deacon momentum a play later, bursting
untouched through the middle and outracing defenders for a
66-yard touchdown. It was the fifth scoring play of 63 yards or
better this season for Spiller and pushed the ACC's all-purpose
career yardage leader past 6,000 yards - a first in league
history.

Clemson's defense did its share, too.

Skinner threw for four touchdowns and 360 yards a week ago
against Maryland and came into Death Valley the ACC's leader in
pass efficiency. The Tigers, though, rattled him throughout.

It was that kind of a day for Wake Forest, which managed only 99
yards in the opening half and finished without a touchdown for
the first time in 14 games since a 26-0 loss to Maryland in
2008.

Clemson backup safety Kantrell Brown had be take off the field
on a stretcher after a second-quarter kickoff return. Brown, a
sophomore, was face down and motionless for several minutes.
However, Tigers athletic spokesman Tim Bourret said initial
reports from school medical personnel were that Brown would be
OK.